“‘You must be the one to fight the giant,’ Raven told her.”— From Miranda Rose Kaagwéil Worl’s How Devil’s Club Came to Be,illustrated by Michaela Goade(Click to enlarge image and read text in its entirety)

Last week over at Kirkus, I talked here with Dr. Rosita Worl, President of Sealaska Heritage Institute in Juneau, about Baby Raven Reads, the Institute’s groundbreaking, culturally-based program promoting early literacy and school readiness for Alaska Native children.

Today, I’m following up that Q&A with a bit of art from some of their 2017 titles. (Below is the cover for the illustration pictured above.)

Enjoy!

Cover for How Devil’s Club Came to Be(Click to enlarge)

“After a while, Shanyaak’utlaax appeared as a young manand told his family his story. Then they named him ‘Aak’wtaatseen.'”— From Salmon Boy, a Tlingit storyedited by Johnny Marks, Hans Chester, David Katzeek, Nora Dauenhauer,and Richard Dauenhauer; illustrated by Michaela Goade(Click to enlarge image and read text in its entirety, including the Tlingit text)

(Click to enlarge cover)

“Go and get a bucket and come along with me.Let’s hike into the woods and find a cedar tree. …”— From Hannah Lindoff’s Let’s Go!: A Harvest Story,illustrated by Michaela Goade(Click to enlarge image and read text in its entirety)

(Click to enlarge cover)

“One day, a Haida hunter named Nanasimgit caught a shimmery silver sea otter.Amazed by its beautiful fur, he was eager to show it to everyone in his village. Nanasimgit was in such a hurry to get back home,he forgot to give thanks to the sea otter for giving its life.”— From The Woman Carried Away by Killer Whales: A Haida Story,illustrated by Janine Gibbons(Click to enlarge image and see spread in its entirety)

(Click to enlarge cover)

“From that day on, she would wear that fur like a blanketand watch the sun set over the edge of the world as she would sing …”— From The Woman Who Married the Bear, a Tlingit story adapted byFrank Henry Kaash Katasse and illustrated by Janine Gibbons(Click to enlarge image and see spread in its entirety, including the Tlingit text)